Amazon Australia may teach big retailers a lesson on price and delivery

Opinion
By Alan KirklandUpdated
Tue 5 Dec 2017, 2:34 PM AEDT

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Amazon is going to either transform shopping for customers or be a complete flop.

AAP: Joe Castro

After much publicity and fanfare, Amazon has finally arrived.

While we don't yet have access to Amazon Prime — which in other countries provides free and fast delivery in return for an annual subscription fee — the initial launch does include the one-day delivery in major cities for items purchased directly from Amazon, for an extra charge.

Talking to consumers in the US and UK, it's the delivery that is a key differentiator — in some cases you can buy something online and have it delivered that evening.

The last time I shopped online with Myer, the products I bought took ages to arrive and were sourced from different stores, so arrived in multiple packages on different days. Hardly a world-class online shopping experience.

Woolworths says it's testing new delivery services — including one-hour delivery in major cities. Better than the three-hour delivery windows it has offered until now.

And it's not just the retailers.

Australia Post has announced a new service called Shipster, which will provide free shipping on orders over $25 from affiliated retailers in return for an annual fee.

These are visible signs of the effect of competition, from businesses that have gotten away with poor online shopping and delivery services for years.

Amazon can help the little people, too

Competition is also expected to have an impact on price, with ACCC chair Rod Sims recently saying that Amazon will be able to undercut local retailers to win business.